With most of the heavy hitters taking the stage tonight, Wednesday was a big opportunity for Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the lone front-runner on stage, and she made the most of her chances throughout the two hour affair. As Jonathan Easley writes from Miami, Warren delivered a strong performance. While she did not lead the pack in speaking time — Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) paced the group -- Warren stayed above the fray as she delivered lines from her stump speech throughout and did not find herself caught up in back-and-forths with any of her fellow Democrats. Even when other Democrats appeared to disagree with her, they declined to ding her by name, namely Booker and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). Additionally, Warren was treated as the true front-runner on stage and was given the first question at the top of the first and second hours. By virtue of her center stage position, she also closed out the debate with her closing statement. The debate was a culmination of a dream month for the Massachusetts Democrat, who has seen polls propel her to second place, neck-and-neck with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who will debate tonight. Wednesday's question-and-answer format, which produced only a handful of authentic debate exchanges, set the table for tonight's marquee matchup featuring front-runner Joe Biden, who is campaigning as a civility Democrat, and Sanders, who says he needs to do a better job of explaining his definition of socialism to voters. Candidates on Wednesday night pitched their brands and prescriptions, making no effort to acknowledge or counter Biden's standing as the candidate seen by the public for months as the Democrat best equipped to defeat Trump next year. However, multiple Democrats took the opportunity after the debate to hit Biden. When pressed by MSNBC's Chris Matthews, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) bashed Biden over his vote in favor of the Iraq War in 2003. Meanwhile, Booker took issue with the MSNBC host's assertion that no one went after Biden on stage because everyone wants to keep the door open to being his running mate. "I would accept Joe Biden being my vice president," Booker said, adding that he would not accept the offer because a woman should be on the ticket. If the former vice president was almost a ghost during the first debate, Trump, who was in Alaska during part of the televised event while flying to Japan (tweeting his review, "BORING!"), was the Democrats' enemy to beat. Every contender on the Miami stage described the 45th president as a threat to the nation, a menace to other nations and a hazard to the rule of law and trust in government. Tonight's 10 debaters will do the same. While Warren had a strong night, the same cannot be said for former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas), who seemed tentative and overly fond of stump-speech slogans during some key exchanges, including on health care and immigration, two issues near and dear to the hearts of most Democratic primary voters. One candidate who took full advantage of his openings was former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro. Castro, the former mayor of San Antonio, had a 2,400 percent spike in Google searches midway through the debate. Another who tried to draw a clear contrast was Klobuchar. The Minnesota Democrat sought to frame herself as the Democrat without pie in the sky proposals, and the one with effective and realistic policy goals. "I don't make all the promises everyone up here makes. But I can promise you this: I am going to govern with integrity. I am going to govern for you," Klobuchar said. She also garnered one of the biggest applause lines after Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) asserted that he was the "one candidate" who has "advanced the ball" on women's rights, including abortion and health care. "I just want to say there's three women up here that have fought pretty hard for a woman's right to choose," Klobuchar said to a roar in the crowd. Throughout the event, big domestic and foreign policy issues dominated, from health care to gun control, and from climate change to 18 years of U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan. One topic raised at the tail end was former special counsel Robert Mueller's report and whether the House should begin an impeachment inquiry aimed at Trump's actions, detailed in the report. Most candidates largely sidestepped the issue, with former Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.) saying he trusts Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to determine how to proceed. The Democratic National Committee scheduled primary debates seven months before the first voter will cast a caucus ballot in Iowa for a reason: to winnow more than two dozen candidates to a manageable number by the fall. Tonight's event in Miami may offer hints about how fast that culling is going to happen. The Hill: Five takeaways from the first Democratic debate. The Hill: Warren shines on Wednesday's debate stage in Miami. The Hill: Trump campaign calls first Democratic debate "best argument" for reelection. CNN: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the Grim Reaper, haunts Democrats' debate. The Associated Press: Health care, immigration top issues during first debate. The Washington Post: Debate transcript (annotated). Dan Balz: Democrats signal a turn toward liberal ambitions and government activism. Jonathan Allen: The winner of the first Democratic debate: Donald Trump. Jeff Greenfield: The landmine that just got laid for Warren. 
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